Sports Gambling Is Big Business In NJ: Here’s A Look At Betting

A majority of Americans think sports gambling — which is legal in New Jersey and all but about a dozen other U.S. jurisdictions — “lessens the integrity of the game,” according to a recent poll.

A majority of respondents to the NBC News Decision Desk poll released late last year also found that a majority of respondents think the increasing availability of sports gambling “will lead to games being fixed or rigged.”

Gamblers in New Jersey have wagered $67,113,310,024 on sports from January through mid-November 2025, according to a running tally of wagers kept by Legal Sports Report, which provides news, analysis and data on legal online sports betting.

The NBC poll was conducted from Nov. 20 to Dec. 8, within weeks of major sports gambling scandals involving professional basketball and baseball players.

NBA journeyman Terry Rozier was arrested on Oct. 23 for allegedly conspiring with gamblers, providing inside information for bets on his performance, and even feigning injury to exit a game early to help bettors wagering on him failing statistical benchmarks.

Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were arrested in November, accused of conspiring with gamblers who wagered on individual pitches they threw during games.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the floodgates to legalized sports gambling when it struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The 1992 law barred state-authorized sports gambling, making Nevada the only state where a person could wager on the results of a single game.

Now, 40 states and the District of Columbia have some form of legalized sports gambling.

In New Jersey, legal online sportsbooks started taking bets in August 2018, two months after Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation that permitted sports betting at NJ casinos and racetracks, according to Legal Sports Report.

While all major sports and leagues are available for betting in the Garden State, Legal Sports Report said in-state college teams and college games that take place in New Jersey are off the board at sportsbooks.

Over the summer, New Jersey also introduced a new state law that hikes taxes on the internet gambling industry, and that supporters expect to raise nearly $250 million for the state.

Under the previous law, online casino gaming was taxed at 15 percent in New Jersey, while online sports betting was taxed at 13 percent and fantasy sports at 10.5 percent. The new formula raises the tax to 19.75 for each.

On June 30, the NJ Senate & Assembly voted to approve the law, and on July 1, Governor Murphy announced his signature of the bill.

• Read More: NJ Tax Hike On Internet Gambling Industry Expected To Raise Big Bucks

In 2024, sports bets at old-school brick-and-mortar sportsbooks or a new crop of legal online channels brought in $13,71 billion in revenue in 2024, up $11.04 billion from 2023, according to the American Gaming Association.

In the period from January to mid-November 2025, New Jersey bets brought in $5,269,400,421, according to Legal Sports Report.

As wagering stands now, New Jersey ranks second in the amount of money wagered. The top 10 states for sports gambling are:

1. New York
2. New Jersey
3. Illinois
4. Nevada
5. Pennsylvania
6. Arizona
7. Colorado
8. Virginia
9. Indiana
10. Ohio

It’s not just the integrity of MLB, NFL, NBA and other leagues with official gambling partners at stake. In September, the NCAA banned three men’s college basketball players who shared thousands of dollars in payouts after betting on their own games at Fresno State and San Jose State.

The NCAA has strict rules regarding participation in sports wagering and prohibits student athletes, coaches, or athletics staff members from providing information that could influence a bet in any sport the NCAA sponsors at any level.

However, beginning Nov. 1, the NCAA allowed athletes and athletic department staff members to bet on professional sports. Although it has long held that sports gambling threatens the well-being of student athletes and the integrity of competition, the NCAA concedes that placing wagers on the outcome is one of the ways fans consume sports.

“This change recognizes the realities of today’s sports environment without compromising our commitment to protecting the integrity of college competition or the well-being of student-athletes,” Roberta Page, director of athletics at Slippery Rock and chair of the Division II Management Council, told ESPN.

Even youth sports aren’t immune. It’s illegal to bet on youth sports in the United States, but offshore sportsbooks saw a rapid rise in Little League World Series bets. None of the other jurisdictions where the organization operates permits wagering on youth sports.

Citing the ethical concerns of placing wagers on a game involving 12-year-olds, Little League International strongly condemned a rapid rise in Little League World Series bets. None of the other jurisdictions where the organization operates permits wagering on youth sports.

“While Little League International continues to monitor the complexity and ever-evolving world of sports betting, we feel strongly that there is no place for betting on Little League games or on any youth sports competition,” the organization said in a statement earlier this year. “Little League is a trusted place where children are learning the fundamentals of the games and all the important life lessons that come with having fun, celebrating teamwork, and playing with integrity, and no one should be exploiting the success and failures of children playing the game they love for their own personal gain.”

What do you think about the growth of sports betting? Do you think it compromises the integrity of the game? Join the conversation in the comments below.